Blue Jays Starting Top 3 Pitchers vs. Red Sox on Short Rest
Some good news for the Rays (if you are into scoreboard watching, that is). The Blue Jays announced that A.J. Burnett, Jesse Litsch and Roy Halladay all will pitch on three days' rest against Boston. In addition, the Red Sox are going to have to face the hot LHP David Purcey (at least, he's hot against the Rays having given up 1 run in 16 innings against us in his last 2 starts) in their first game tonight (Wakefield is pitching for the BoSox). This is great news for the Rays for several reasons.
1) The Jays have a top 2 (Rays are #1 in my opinion) starting rotation in the MLB and the Jays are red hot - good opportunity for the Rays to gain some ground if we can take the series from the Yankees (will not be easy, but the Rays can do it for sure).
2) The Jays believe they are in the Wild Card hunt (and they are if they can win or sweep the Red Sox series) and will be playing for their lives. The Red Sox know they needs to string some wins together before coming down to the Trop. That means both sides will be playing some very intense baseball for 3 days before having to fly down and play a 3-game set at the Trop. The Red Sox will not be able to preserve their bullpen as they cannot afford to conserve for the Rays series. Let's hope for some extra innings battles in this series!
3) The Rays/Red Sox series is going to be no picnic for Red Sox hitters either as they will face Scott Kazmir right out of the gate. They also have to deal with the mental block of having lost all games they've played at the Trop thus far. I am not sure how big an issue this will be, but it is something that will be in their minds, for sure.
The Rays do not have an easy task at hand either with their visit to Yankee Stadium, but I believe we have a very good chance to win this series. Here are the Rays matchups for the weekend:
Friday - Garza vs. Ponson
Saturday - Shields vs. Mussina
Sunday - Jackson vs. Pavano
No easy task for sure, but they are all RHPs and the Rays are fired up after the Red Sox series. Perhaps we will see BJ Upton and Evan Longoria in the lineup as well, which would be outstanding news! There is going to be some GREAT baseball for the next week!
1) The Jays have a top 2 (Rays are #1 in my opinion) starting rotation in the MLB and the Jays are red hot - good opportunity for the Rays to gain some ground if we can take the series from the Yankees (will not be easy, but the Rays can do it for sure).
2) The Jays believe they are in the Wild Card hunt (and they are if they can win or sweep the Red Sox series) and will be playing for their lives. The Red Sox know they needs to string some wins together before coming down to the Trop. That means both sides will be playing some very intense baseball for 3 days before having to fly down and play a 3-game set at the Trop. The Red Sox will not be able to preserve their bullpen as they cannot afford to conserve for the Rays series. Let's hope for some extra innings battles in this series!
3) The Rays/Red Sox series is going to be no picnic for Red Sox hitters either as they will face Scott Kazmir right out of the gate. They also have to deal with the mental block of having lost all games they've played at the Trop thus far. I am not sure how big an issue this will be, but it is something that will be in their minds, for sure.
The Rays do not have an easy task at hand either with their visit to Yankee Stadium, but I believe we have a very good chance to win this series. Here are the Rays matchups for the weekend:
Friday - Garza vs. Ponson
Saturday - Shields vs. Mussina
Sunday - Jackson vs. Pavano
No easy task for sure, but they are all RHPs and the Rays are fired up after the Red Sox series. Perhaps we will see BJ Upton and Evan Longoria in the lineup as well, which would be outstanding news! There is going to be some GREAT baseball for the next week!
Labels: Andy Sonnanstine, BJ Upton, Edwin Jackson, Evan Longoria, James Shields, Matt Garza, Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Rays
posted by Blogging Man at
10:28 AM
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